Open for global participation, the artistic project, Telegraph (Prespa), consists of interrelated isolated segments of participation and interaction between individuals in Prespa, Greece and locations around the world who come together to form an integrated whole. Specific to the work is the idea of creating an interconnected, shared space of walking that is global in scope, but tethered to specific individual geographic areas. Through this project, Prespa becomes a hub of connection forming remote intimacies between distant locales where experience of place is encountered through walking and the transference of place through observation, exchange, and performance.
This artistic project allows for the entwinement of local and global participation as the observations, transferences, and recreations will occur in the space that is occupied by the selected participants.
The enactment of the work requests participants to engage in an exchange of walks, while following the below prompts:
Part 1:-Go for a short walk in your locale, at the farthest point of the walk, capture (through video) an observed gesture.-Translate that gesture into a written prompt that can be recited within a single breath.-Upload the video of the captured gesture, and your written prompt
Part 2:-Receive a written prompt describing a gesture to perform.-Go for a short walk in your locale, at the farthest point of the walk, perform the received prompt and capture your performance (on video.)-Upload the video of the performed gesture
Part 3:The third part is completed by the artist/organizers who collect the uploaded videos and written prompts, and edit them in a sequence that reveals and connects the spaces through a collective composition. As the captured gestures are paired and connected with the performed gestures through the written prompts, the spaces become conflated through an association of activity and participation.
Enactment of the work will occur during the period of time in which the Walking as a Question – International Walking Arts Encounters/Conference Prespa 2021 event is occurring. When complete, the resulting video documentation will be uploaded to a video streaming service and the link will be included in this event.
Related
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The pandemic challenged walking artists to engage with new forms and new media for their practice. Group walking was translated into online walking, allowing people around the globe to walk together. Prompts or "walking scores" facilitated pandemic walkers to explore within the limits of their walking spaces, often in surprising and new ways, individually or with other remote walkers. Online technologies permitted to listen into remote spaces, beyond physical reach in the pandemic.
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